Fun on the water yesterday.

[MississippiBoy]

I decided to brave the weekenders and twice-a-year boaters yesterday and do some froggin' in the pads. Got a good shot of the sunrise on the way up the river.


A little after 9, I notice something moving. Somebody had been jug fishing, using PVC pipe and yellow pool noodles as the float, and one of them was still there, being pulled around by whatever had been caught. So I figure there's a catfish or something that's going to die with this noodle dragging from it, so I troll over to release (or keep for supper ) that catfish.
I reach down and grab the noodle and start to pull it up. I can feel the weight on it, but nothing is thrashing or pulling against me...it's just dead weight. I pull it up a couple of feet, and see something long and skinny coming up with it. Can't tell what it is, I'm thinking maybe a gar or something. I pull it up a little more, and I recognize what it is....it's a front leg.....that's still attached.....to the 6-7 foot alligator that was not happy to see me. I wasn't thrilled, either. I dropped the float as quick as I could, and he thrashed hard to the side and made a big splash as he swam off. Let me tell you, my heart was POUNDING in my chest after that. It took me probably ten minutes to calm down.
Then I looked down, and saw the float about 20 feet away from where it was when I grabbed it...Mr. Gator didn't go too far. I thought that he would be pretty likely to get hung up on something with that float still hanging from his mouth, so I worked up my courage and trolled on over to it. As fast as I could, I grabbed it, picked it up about a foot, and cut the line.
My day was fun....how about yours?